Wigan Athletic 2015/16 season
League Position: [League One] 1st (2014/15: [Championship] 23rd)
Average league attendance: 9,467 (2014/15: 12,882)
Top league goalscorer: Will Grigg (25)
Winners of League One, Wigan returned to the Championship at the first time of asking with a narrow three point advantage over Dean Smith's former side Walsall in third place.
In the summer, they added names like Jussi Jaaskelainen [West Ham United], Craig Davies [Bolton Wanderers], Kevin McNaughton [Cardiff City] and Will Grigg [Brentford] to the squad. They also bid farewell to Gaetan Bong [Brighton & Hove Albion], Ali Al-Habsi [Reading], Martyn Waghorn [Rangers], Marc-Antoine Fortune [Coventry] and Emmerson Boyce [Blackpool] as the new manager put his stamp on the playing staff in the North West.
A shaky start to the season, with almost as many wins as defeats in the league, meant Wigan didn't hit the heights until later in the season. In fact, by the halfway stage they were only fifth in the table. They were knocked out of both the FA Cup and Capital One Cup by Bury, 2-1 and 4-0, but made it to the Semi-Final of the Football League Trophy (North).
At the start of March they were second, but failed to win any of their next three games. It took until the first match of April to hit top spot, with rivals Burton Albion dropping points elsewhere, and they had to come from behind at Shrewsbury Town to do it. For the rest of the season it was touch and go as all three teams in contention went through patches of good and bad form. A surprise loss to Doncaster Rovers gave Burton the chance to catch up, but they failed to get more than a share of the points when they hosted Wigan a week later and couldn't take advantage.
Despite losing 4-1 Barnsley on the final day of the season, Wigan were promoted as Champions having already confirmed automatic promotion the week before.
The Ground
The DW Stadium Robin Park Wigan WN5 0UH Click here for more information on the DW Stadium.
The Manager
Gary Caldwell took charge of Wigan on the brink of relegation at the end of the 2014/15 season and, while he couldn't prevent the inevitable that year, he guided the team to the League One title at the first time of asking. The 34-year-old will be the youngest manager in the Championship this season, second youngest in the entire EFL.
As a player, Caldwell was a defender who spent the majority of his career at Celtic. The last club he made an appearance for was Wigan in 2015, before he retired due to injury in order to take up a coaching role within the academy.
The First Meeting
4 September 1982, Football League Division Three - Wigan Athletic 3 Brentford 2 The opening match of the 1982/83 season was action packed, with three penaties awarded in favour of The Latics. They converted two, one after a retake, while Brentford had Alan Whitehead sent off.
The Last Meeting
2 May 2015, Sky Bet Championship - Brentford 3 Wigan Athletic 0 Brentford XI: Button; Odubajo, Dean, Tarkowski, Bidwell; Diagouraga, Douglas; Jota, Judge, Pritchard; Gray The Bees confirmed a Play-Off spot at Griffin Park on the final day of the regular season thanks to a resounding victory over already relegated Wigan.
Head to Head
Brentford wins: 7 Draws: 8 Wigan wins: 18